Dog FLu Article
Denise Flaim
Animal House
October 10, 2005
Should I be afraid? Should I be very afraid?
In dog circles these days, the hot topic is the new 'doggie flu.' Anywhere concerned owners congregate - at dog parks, at vets' offices, at the dog show I was at last weekend - talk inevitably turns to the highly infectious canine influenza virus, which was first noted among racing greyhounds in Florida in January 2004 and began affecting companion dogs earlier this year.
Because this pathogen has never appeared in the dog population before - it 'jumped' to dogs from horses, where it has been present for 40 years - most canines exposed to it will contract it.
Hysteria, apparently, is just as contagious.
'This week on my net groups I saw many anecdotal accounts of $100,000 show dogs dying while packed in ice and hooked up to IVs, with high temps,' read one e-mail that was making the rounds. 'No one knows what is wrong with these dogs, and the vets do not know what they are treating.'
At the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, which is doing blood tests to diagnose the disorder, the phone is ringing off the hook. 'I sit here and field 20 or 30 calls every few hours,' says Edward Dubovi, director of the center's virology lab. 'Every coughing dog out there is not canine flu.'
Late last month, reports of canine flu among companion dogs were limited to Florida, Massachusetts and New York, including the city and Long Island. But seemingly every day, a new state - welcome, Oregon and California - is added to the roster.
'What we seem to be seeing is a virus that's spreading fairly rapidly, particularly among groups of dogs in kennel and boarding situations,' Dubovi says.
Like the flu we humans obsess about every winter, the biggest risks from canine influenza are to the very young, the very old and the immuno-compromised.
'It's not dangerous to the vast majority of dogs, just like flu infection of people is not dangerous to the large majority of people,' veterinarian Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida at Gainesville, told National Public Radio listeners recently. She says 80 percent of dogs who contract the virus will only exhibit mild coughing and sneezing.
But then there is this sobering statistic: Crawford estimates the mortality rate at 5 to 8 percent.
Veterinarian Brad Fenwick, a professor of infectious diseases at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., thinks those numbers are overblown. In working with greyhounds at the nation's racetracks, he says he found less than 1 percent needed antibiotic treatment for respiratory infections, and an even smaller percentage died.
Dogs that die suddenly are not dying from the flu, he says, but rather from the resulting acute secondary infections, which cause fever, lethargy and loss of appetite.
If treated promptly for the infection, he says, 'the dogs recover very quickly.' But if not, 'those bacteria are exceptionally toxic, and a dog can die in two to six hours after developing clinical signs.'
Most dog owners are familiar with the term kennel cough, which is not a specific disorder but a catch-all description for certain respiratory syndromes, including canine influenza, which is viral. But probably the most common culprit in kennel cough is a bacterial organism called bordetella bronchiseptica.
In terms of symptoms, canine flu and bordetella are indistinguishable.
Like bordetella, canine flu is characterized by a persistent hacking cough, sometimes with nasal discharge.
As with bordetella, canine flu can develop into life-threatening pneumonia, with the dog running a high fever and developing labored breathing. Unlike bordetella, there is no vaccine, though researchers are working on one.
Even though it doesn't prevent canine flu, Dubovi recommends the bordetella vaccine to avert a potentially lethal one-two punch: 'One infection sets up the dog so it can't defend against the second.'
Fenwick disagrees, citing the vaccine's effectiveness. 'The bordella mutations out there are nothing like what's in the vaccine,' he warns. 'It's a bit of a hoax in terms of their degree of protection.'
Fenwick also notes that many vets fumble in treating kennel cough, whether caused by canine flu or bordetella. Oft-prescribed Baytril is inappropriate for such secondary infections, he says, while other antibiotics, such as doxycycline, are far more effective.
As vets sift through the ever-changing data on canine flu, owners must decide what level of exposure they'll risk.
Crawford has said she will continue to take her two Pekingese to the groomer, and not stop boarding her greyhound whenever she needs to travel. Dog parks? She still plans on going. But city officials recommended last week that people not walk dogs in Central Park.
Common sense should prevail. Owners with dogs that show signs of respiratory infection or pneumonia should seek vet care immediately. And they should not take them places where other dogs congregate until weeks after symptoms disappear, to ensure they are no longer contagious.
Animal House
October 10, 2005
Should I be afraid? Should I be very afraid?
In dog circles these days, the hot topic is the new 'doggie flu.' Anywhere concerned owners congregate - at dog parks, at vets' offices, at the dog show I was at last weekend - talk inevitably turns to the highly infectious canine influenza virus, which was first noted among racing greyhounds in Florida in January 2004 and began affecting companion dogs earlier this year.
Because this pathogen has never appeared in the dog population before - it 'jumped' to dogs from horses, where it has been present for 40 years - most canines exposed to it will contract it.
Hysteria, apparently, is just as contagious.
'This week on my net groups I saw many anecdotal accounts of $100,000 show dogs dying while packed in ice and hooked up to IVs, with high temps,' read one e-mail that was making the rounds. 'No one knows what is wrong with these dogs, and the vets do not know what they are treating.'
At the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, which is doing blood tests to diagnose the disorder, the phone is ringing off the hook. 'I sit here and field 20 or 30 calls every few hours,' says Edward Dubovi, director of the center's virology lab. 'Every coughing dog out there is not canine flu.'
Late last month, reports of canine flu among companion dogs were limited to Florida, Massachusetts and New York, including the city and Long Island. But seemingly every day, a new state - welcome, Oregon and California - is added to the roster.
'What we seem to be seeing is a virus that's spreading fairly rapidly, particularly among groups of dogs in kennel and boarding situations,' Dubovi says.
Like the flu we humans obsess about every winter, the biggest risks from canine influenza are to the very young, the very old and the immuno-compromised.
'It's not dangerous to the vast majority of dogs, just like flu infection of people is not dangerous to the large majority of people,' veterinarian Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida at Gainesville, told National Public Radio listeners recently. She says 80 percent of dogs who contract the virus will only exhibit mild coughing and sneezing.
But then there is this sobering statistic: Crawford estimates the mortality rate at 5 to 8 percent.
Veterinarian Brad Fenwick, a professor of infectious diseases at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., thinks those numbers are overblown. In working with greyhounds at the nation's racetracks, he says he found less than 1 percent needed antibiotic treatment for respiratory infections, and an even smaller percentage died.
Dogs that die suddenly are not dying from the flu, he says, but rather from the resulting acute secondary infections, which cause fever, lethargy and loss of appetite.
If treated promptly for the infection, he says, 'the dogs recover very quickly.' But if not, 'those bacteria are exceptionally toxic, and a dog can die in two to six hours after developing clinical signs.'
Most dog owners are familiar with the term kennel cough, which is not a specific disorder but a catch-all description for certain respiratory syndromes, including canine influenza, which is viral. But probably the most common culprit in kennel cough is a bacterial organism called bordetella bronchiseptica.
In terms of symptoms, canine flu and bordetella are indistinguishable.
Like bordetella, canine flu is characterized by a persistent hacking cough, sometimes with nasal discharge.
As with bordetella, canine flu can develop into life-threatening pneumonia, with the dog running a high fever and developing labored breathing. Unlike bordetella, there is no vaccine, though researchers are working on one.
Even though it doesn't prevent canine flu, Dubovi recommends the bordetella vaccine to avert a potentially lethal one-two punch: 'One infection sets up the dog so it can't defend against the second.'
Fenwick disagrees, citing the vaccine's effectiveness. 'The bordella mutations out there are nothing like what's in the vaccine,' he warns. 'It's a bit of a hoax in terms of their degree of protection.'
Fenwick also notes that many vets fumble in treating kennel cough, whether caused by canine flu or bordetella. Oft-prescribed Baytril is inappropriate for such secondary infections, he says, while other antibiotics, such as doxycycline, are far more effective.
As vets sift through the ever-changing data on canine flu, owners must decide what level of exposure they'll risk.
Crawford has said she will continue to take her two Pekingese to the groomer, and not stop boarding her greyhound whenever she needs to travel. Dog parks? She still plans on going. But city officials recommended last week that people not walk dogs in Central Park.
Common sense should prevail. Owners with dogs that show signs of respiratory infection or pneumonia should seek vet care immediately. And they should not take them places where other dogs congregate until weeks after symptoms disappear, to ensure they are no longer contagious.
